The Rise of the Black Plain

"So, are you aware of the situation of our states against the Flaming Empire?" Iris West asked Minos as she sat next to her daughters on the opposite side of where he and his wives were sitting on an oversized sofa.

Minos nodded as he held a cup of spiritual tea with one of his hands and the saucer with the other. "Yes, I am not irresponsible not to know about what happens to my interests..."

"So what have you been doing in the Empire? Have you accomplished anything to lessen tensions in the region? The Emperor seems very interested in the war." She said with a slightly altered tone, doubtful of Minos' actions.

Minos had not promised that he would be able to solve anything. He had only sworn that he would try to speak on behalf of Albano and the other states to calm the regional tensions.

But still, Iris felt that Minos owed her and the other sovereigns some answers.

He then spoke up. "Well, besides resolving some matters that I intend to finalize here in Albano for the sake of the Black Plain, I had the opportunity to meet the Emperor in person."

Minos knew that both sides had spies watching enemy movements in these states. So his meeting with the Emperor or the occasions when he was with Princess Isabella would not go unnoticed by these people.

In that way, he would not hide his meeting with the Edwardstone family from Iris.

"So?" She asked as she and her daughters paid attention to him, with no sign of his mundane desires that they were feeling earlier.

"Well, I am only the King of the Black Plain, while he is a level 80 Spiritual Sage..." Minos began lying. "So, naturally, I didn't get much."

The three nodded, knowing that it would be expecting too much from him to think that he could solve such a big problem on his own.

Minos' wives kept their expressions as calm as possible, trying to act the same way he did so as not to alert those three women of what they knew.

He continued. "Besides talking about the Black Plain and business, I talked to him about your situation and how war is not interesting to anyone. But the talks didn't go far. He doesn't believe that our alliance will be able to stop him. For him, my leadership in Vogel will be fragile, and they will disperse."

His eyes sharpened as he looked up into Queen West's face. "He will not back down without testing your strength. I sense that."

"He wants to test us?" Joan looked at her mother, feeling that this made total sense.

After all, who was Minos compared to the powers involved in this complicated situation? A nobody!

Yes, he was talented, had good contacts, had experience fighting and winning a war, and was not negatively influenced by either party. But he was only at level 62, and his power came from the Black Plain.

So besides potentials, Minos did not have what it took to be that scary, even considering his Black Hole Bomb.

All the regional leaders knew he could produce something hazardous. But they also knew it was not as simple as activating a technique.

In this case, as long as they were careful, they could ignore this young talent.

So, since Minos had little impact on the present, Joan and her mother could not help but believe his words, feeling that it all made sense.

Minos said. "Yes. He didn't tell me that, but from the impression I got, he wants to see if the union of our forces is strong enough or only appears to be."

Iris clenched her fists, feeling that this would not be easy.

It was true that the noble families of Vogel had accepted Minos as sovereign and even gathered in the Assembly suggested by him. But would they behave as a state united in one goal at the critical moment, or would they weaken?

The figure of a king or Emperor sometimes served less for his individual strengths and more for his ability to hold the collective together.

So the doubt that seemed to be in Harold's mind was also in the mind of Iris and her fellow sovereigns of the other three states.

If Vogel was united, they could withstand the Empire's tests and still scare the Edwardstone family with the damage a war could bring to it. But, on the other hand, if Vogel were disunited, the tests the Empire would run would give the Emperor confidence to go full tilt with a war!

Lulu continued silent, watching Minos' wives until her mother asked him. "What is your opinion about what we should do?"

She had her thoughts, but Minos was already a partner, and he was a young prodigy. Thus, it was worth listening to what he had to say, even if she might not use it in the future.

Minos smiled and said. "There's not much to do other than make sure the alliance forces are united in dealing with the Empire's tests. Having a good command hierarchy, getting Vogel to follow such, and supporting the alliance leader is the key."

"As for negotiations, there is not much to negotiate right now. First, you truly need to regain the table space you lost with the crime of the Vogel family to have the right to speak with these enemies again." He finished his argument.

'Indeed...'

'Negotiations only happen between two equals or individuals with complementary possibilities.' The queen's eyes narrowed. 'At the moment, we cannot be considered on the same level as the Empire. And there is nothing we have that such a state needs...'

'In this case, we can only hold firm and show that we can be better than they think we are.' She clenched her fists, sensing that the times ahead would not be easy.

Lulu then ignored her older sister and mother, who were reflective and asked. "Why do you seem so calm? This situation is not good for Vogel, the state your family will soon rule."

Abby then answered the princess while those other women from the West family looked at her and her harem sisters. "We will try our best, but not all of our eggs are in this basket. We have the Black Plain and never thought we would have Vogel until recently. So why should we be nervous about that?"

Gloria added. "Not to mention that we have confidence in our husband's 'diplomacy.'"

Ruth nodded in agreement. "If you do the same, we can get through this situation more easily than you can imagine..."

Minos smiled as he heard his wives showing the way to those women, trusting the hierarchy, one where he was at the top to keep those forces together.

As those women were not stupid, they soon realized what they had in front of them, falling into their thoughts regarding the future.

There were no easy decisions in the life of a ruler. So they would have to think about what to do and the possible consequences of their decisions before doing something that might bring irreversible problems.

As such, they no longer focused on the matter at hand, leaving that to be decided later while they touched on another subject.

"What exactly do you intend to end up in our state?" Iris asked Minos.

...